Ranee Randby is leaving her community relations post at the Knox Co. Health Dept. to join a new health insurance co-op startup:

On Nov. 24, I began a new position as Communications Director for Community Health Alliance (CHA), the health insurance CO-OP for Tennessee. CO-OPs were created as part of the Affordable Care Act.Community Health Alliance has a mission to provide health insurance to individuals and businesses through a different business model: The Company is a true nonprofit, consumer-focused and governed by members. The startup timeline is to start enrolling members in October, 2013 and begin paying benefits on Jan. 1, 2014.

CHA is not the health insurance exchange; our products will be offered on the exchange. Think of the exchange as a marketplace, where individuals can compare plans and shop for insurance. The exchange will be Web-based, so a comparison to Travelocity is probably more applicable. Insurance agents also will offer CHA as an option to their individual and business clients.

We had them in the 1930s and 1940s, because the Farm Security Administration sponsored them before we had health insurance. There were 600,000 people in the Midwest who were insured through them. Texas was a big area for them.

A "CO-OP" is a specific type of non-profit organization that exists as a result of the ACA 2010. CO-OP is "Consumer Owned and Oriented Plans." The ACA provides specific funding to starts these new entities.

Health care cooperatives (co-ops) have been around for 20 years. They are participant owned, much like a credit union. A CO-OP is more like an independent, not-for-profit hospital.